The Ed Show for Thursday, June 5th, 2014

THE ED SHOW
June 5, 2014

Guest: Connie Schultz, Goldie Taylor, Nina Turner, David Cay Johnston,
Brian Schweitzer, Raul Grijalva


ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. I`m ready to go, let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH AND CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
Their son Bowe is coming home.

ROBERT BERGDAHL: I`d like to say to Bowe right now who was trouble
speaking English.

I`m your father Bowe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My guess is that that prisoners dad will not go when
remark done (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other reason I said that Robert Bergdahl look like a
Muslim is that he looks like a Muslim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t criticize the parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He do absolute like a member of the Taliban. Oh yeah,
out of racist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man shows up at the White House looking like a
Muslim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He speaks hash though, he thanks Allah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well that got ugly pretty bad.

SEAN HANNITY: He was declaring a Muslim victory call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His dad was no price possession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This father and this son, they were sympathetic
(inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t criticize the parents.

HANNITY: Reportedly grew a beard in an effort to win sympathy from the
son`s captures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you give Bob Bergdahl a bandana and a duck, you`d
like him just (inaudible) fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks, thanks for watching.

Why the family? Why has the family become the target of this entire
ordeal? Well couple of nights ago in this broadcast, I said that, "Well,
you know, Republicans really have no boundaries." And they have proven it
again and again.

Just when you think Republicans can`t sink any lower, they do. Attacking
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl isn`t cutting it anymore. They want more. Now
Republicans are going to after his dad, his father, Bob Bergdahl. These
guys are ruthless, they have no boundaries, Republicans have made Bob
Bergdahl a tool in their toolbox to take down President Obama. They`ll try
anything.

They don`t like the way he looks, they don`t want the way he talks, they
don`t like what comes out of this mouth and they can stand the fact that
Bob Bergdahl doesn`t hate Muslims.

Last night Sean Hannity wasted no time jabbing the father of a POW.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Bob Bergdahl, the father of free Taliban capture Sergeant Bowe
Bergdahl, well he close to fire storm a controversy when he spoke in Arabic
at a press conference with President Obama on Saturday. Now the Arabic
phrase reportedly translates to "In the name of Allah", the merciful and
compassionate about Bergdahl who learned Arabic and Pashto, reportedly grew
a beard in an effort to win sympathy from his son`s captures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I though this was the United States of America, freedom of
speech, freedom of religion. Bill O`reilly also couldn`t resist hitting
Bergdahl`s father. O`reilly said Bob Bergdahl has ignited controversy for
looking like a Muslim?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O`REILLY: What it is Robert Bergdahl, the father, who is also
engendering some controversy. He has learn to speak Pashto, the language
of the Taliban and looks like a Muslim. He`s also somewhat sympathetic to
Islam, actually thanking Allah right in front of the President.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison, you got to grow a beard
because you`re Muslim. Bob Bergdahl grew his beard to show support for his
son. Now think about that. He grew a beard to show support for his son.
It`s kind of like families when they shave their head when someone has
cancer.

Learning to speak another language and being mindful of Islam is nothing
that should spark any type of controversy. But of course we live in a
world of hate, do we not? If your kid was captured, wouldn`t you want to
know everything you possibly could about the people who are holding your
son or daughter?

Meanwhile, the kids on the curvy couch, well they have to weigh in too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sergeant Bergdahl`s father, who in the rose guard the
past weekend has made some anti-American tweets and statements. One of
which was, "I`m working to free all the Gitmo prisoners, god will repay the
debt of every Afghan child." Really? I mean he says he was growing his
beard because his son was in captivity. Well your son is out now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you really don`t -- no longer want to look like a
member of the Taliban, you don`t have to look like a member of Taliban.
Are you out of razors?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: What do you think? Are there any other Americans across this
great country that would like to see some resolution with the detainees in
Guantanamo Bay? Really? Anybody? Anybody want to see habeas corpus see
some process here? I want to address these tweets from Bergdahl`s father.
What do you expect the guy to do? Trash the Taliban while they`re holding
his kid? Clearly his tweets were an attempt to make the situation better
for his son, sending the message that my son is not the problem.

As far as the beard is concerned, I seem to remember some Fox and friends
favorites who were out of razors at one time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well their closely family has termed America and turn
Duck dynasty into a TV phenomenon. At the core of the Robertson Clan (ph)
is fake family and a fun (inaudible) for life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it`s like now from Duck Dynasty are really Si with
his very famous tea cup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And his best selling book now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: that`s right, and Jep Roberson all turning this like.
Good morning to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you really want to be stop by the taxidermist to be
a redneck statue?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I don`t know about you, but that guy in the middle there, he
really look like a Taliban member, didn`t he? Quite the double standard
from the kids on the curvy couch.

I`ll tell you why Republicans are attacking Bob Bergdahl, they don`t care
if his kid was in captivity. Hey, he stood next to the President of the
United States, at a time when the President of the United States, Barack
Obama did something great for a family. It`s an easy target to go after
the Muslim sympathizer with a beard who was standing next to President
Obama.

Bob Bergdahl did absolutely nothing to become a target of the right wing
and right commentators in a network, in compassing all of that. Now the
only thing that matters really is what his son did. The fact is we really
don`t know what happen to Sergeant Bergdahl. Republicans are out
criticizing Bergdahl for deserting his post and saying that he went AWOL,
pure speculation. No proof of that whatsoever.

Media reports that could easily be inaccurate. They have absolutely no
knowledge of what actually happened when he was captured or if we went
AWOL. And since when did we have so member of congress become military
experts, having no experience or time in the military at all.

Now, if Bergdahl did go AWOL, if he did -- let me ask you the question
tonight. "Do you think the military, do you think the brass is going to be
able to come to the conclusion about what happen?" The military is going
to take care of this, regardless, regardless of all that. An American
soldier, Bergdahl deserves to come home. Even General Stanley Mcchrystal,
who we all know is not a big Obama fan, said that we should not be judging
the soldier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL: I think we`re going to have to wait and talk to
Sergeant Bergdahl now and get his side of the story. One of the great
things about America is we should not judge until we know the facts. And
after we know the facts then we should make a mature judgment on how we
should handle it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But you see the problem is that there`s a lot of members of
congress who don`t think that the military brass has the intelligence to
take of this. For congress and the conservative media to suggest that they
know more than the military brass is an outrage, it`s an insult.
Republicans, they`re not supporting the troops, they`re attacking the
troops, they think out generals are idiots and can`t figure out what happen
to this guy and they don`t even want to give him time to do it because they
hate Obama so much.

Republicans are disingenuous when they claim to support the troops and
attack Bowe Bergdahl`s father. The one person who is supporting the troops
is President Obama. He is standing behind his decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a
young man to his parents and that the American people understand that this
is somebody`s child. And that we don`t condition whether or not we make
the effort to try to get them back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The Republican hater for President Obama has reached a new level
with this story. They have not turned their hatred and they`re attacking
members of the military family, member of family that for the last five
year have probably been anguished over not knowing is their son alive? How
is he being treated? Is he sick? Have they already tortured him and is he
dead and we just don`t know it yet? But they`ll do anything to tarnish
President Obama. This is as low as it gets. There has never been a story
that goes as low as this one when it comes to the Republican movement in
this country trying to take down this president. They will use a family,
they will use a soldier, they are using the Bergdahls right now.

Get your cellphones out, I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, "Is it fair for Republicans to attack Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl`s
father?" Text A for yes, text B for no to 67622. You can always go to our
blog at ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.

One of the things that I find just astounding and just stunning in this
story is the callousness of the right-wing, that they think that the family
member haven`t had any anguish whatsoever in the days of his captivity,
that I have (inaudible) in there with the Taliban, they`re going to take
good care of him.

What do they think it`s like? No compassion whatsoever, no insight on
exactly what the family could be going to through.

For more let me bring in Syndicated Columnist, Connie Schultz and also
Goldie Taylor of the Grio.com great to have both of you with us tonight,
you`re both moms, you both have raised kids. Connie, you first. Why are
Republicans attacking this family? And imagine what kind of anguish would
you have gone through as a mother if you would had a son or daughter in
captivity for this long not knowing?

CONNIE SCHULTZ, SYNDICATE COLUMNIST: I wrote about that from my Syndicated
Columnist weed Ed and I started it this way and I want to ask every parent
who is watching this right now, watching the show tonight, if you love your
daughter or son, what would you do? Sort of harming an innocent person,
what would you be willing to do to get your child home alive when he is
being held captive in a foreign land? Would you learn to speak the
language of his captures? Would you telegraph messages of sympathy for
their cost so that they, you know, not kill your child?

When I saw his beard, the father`s beard, the first think I though was,
I`ll bet he has grown that for as long as his son has been missing, it was
such a perfect way to telegraph and anguish that most of us don`t dare to
even imagine. And I don`t -- I know some of these Republicans who are
talking this way are parents, are they not? For even a moment imagining
what they would go through if this with their child.

SCHULTZ: I know, it`s just amazing. Goldie your thoughts, if that was
your son or daughter, imagine the anguish you would have gone through.

GOLDIE TAYLOR, THE GRIO.COM COLUMNIST: You know, it will be easier to tell
you Ed what I would not do rather than what I would. You know, he learned
Pashto, a form of Arabic to telegraph messages to his son`s captures. I
would have learn eight languages and memorize every line to (inaudible) if
that`s what it took. And so I think this father did what he was suppose to
do in terms of showing his solidarity whit his son. Everyday that the
people of Hailey saw this man with this beard, they knew it was a constrict
that his son were still being held and that the fight still continued.

And so there is nothing I would not have done, I don`t think, you know, in
order to make certain that might to have seen my son home safely. But to
some of this come from the right-wing and even from the middle of this
country that kind of demonization. There are one billion Muslims, peace
loving Muslims living around this world. We can not hate all of them. You
know, there are a billion Christians living around this world, now all of
them peaceful and kind.

And so I think that we got to take a step back and look at how we sort of
(inaudible) this vicious and cruel stereotypes. You know, not only against
this family and how they try to stand up for their son but for peace loving
Muslims ling around this world.

SCHULTZ: They have such a distain for the decision that the Commander and
Chief made. They have taken it so far to tarnish the family, pick on the
family, make them the target, draw a conclusion, say that they look like a
Muslim. Connie Schultz, how low does it get for the Republicans?

C. SCHULTZ: I dare not to predict. But I do think this that most
Americans will not stand for this. I run a public Facebook page which I`ve
mentioned here before and they`re, I mean almost 130,000 people following
and we were having this discussion on my page for the last two days. And I
have to tell you, regardless of their politics, it`s not just liberals
saying this goes too far, we really don`t know the circumstances yet, we do
not understand all that happened. And we also know what`s fair and what`s
unfair.

And I do think most Americans, despite, you know, most Americans are not
divided in the same way, that`s their political leaders are. And they are
really loosing patients with this sort of thing, particularly those who
love anybody, they`ve raised, this is not going to fly this time.

SCHULTZ: But you know Goldie, I don`t hear any Republican saying, "Let`s
slow down and back off here a little bit. Let`s give the family some room.
Let`s give the father some latitude here, they`ve been through an awful
lot." I don`t hear any of that. I hear nothing but the condemnation and
conviction all the way across the board. Is this some kind of Republican
strategy?

TAYLOR: You know Ed, unfortunately there is a price to pay for compassion
on this planet unfortunately. You know, it seems that though there were
some of Republican elected leaders who were pleased and glad that this
young man had been brought home to face whatever consequences, you know,
there may be for him if he were AWOL or deserter, whatever happen that
night, they were proud to see another American citizen, a U.S. soldier
being return home to American soil.

And so I just think that define that they`ve now deleted those tweets that
they deleted those message that they`ve recalled all of those messages. I
think speaks to the politicization of this, the enforcement politicization
of this. Knowing that we`ve got a midterm election coming this fall and
that 2016 is around the corner. That this really is not I`m finding about
the Bergdahl family. This is about Barack Obama, .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

TAYLOR: . this is about Hillary Clinton. This is about winning the next
election when we ought to be focused on what`s happening here and now in
terms of our foreign policy and in terms of winding ourselves down at
Afghanistan. Listen, those five very dangerous, very evil people who were
being held there. They were going to be release anyway, because this war
is coming to an end and is.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

TAYLOT: . I am thankful that we at least we`re able to trade an American
life before we let them go.

SCHULTZ: Connie what impact do you think General McChrystal could have on
this whole conservative narrative out there. I mean they adored him when
he was in charge. And now his coming out saying, "Wait a minute, let`s not
rush the judgment on this." What about that?

C. SCHULTZ: Well, you know, in having this conversation in house, so few
Republicans are speaking out, I think it`s boring (ph) that we acknowledge,
sometimes we get frustrated with some Democrats too, right? For example
the issue of gun control, can really frustrate me sometimes.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

C. SCHULTZ: So it`s not unusual to see sometimes we don`t get what we
want. I got to believe that a number of Republicans, particularly moderate
Republicans, then they do exist particularly among voters. I hope they
bring pressure to burying this. I think if you have a general speaking out
this way, I hope it will some influence. But I think all this right too,
their target really isn`t this family and as you mentioned as well.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

C SCHULTZ: Their target is the president. And she`s very wise, Goldie, to
bring up Hillary Clinton and whoever else is got -- whoever maybe the next
Democratic candidate for President.

They`re trying to set that stage. I just think they are really
underestimating it, under evaluating the sediments of most Americans right
now. But I don`t think this is going to play well for them.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

C. SCHULTZ: And I, you know, as much as I like...

SCHULTZ: They are used to that.

C. SCHULTZ: . that the army wants them to fail, they want them to be hurt
by this. I`d rather they just shut up frankly, because I hate seeing going
this family through.

SCHULTZ: And Connie Schultz, Goldie Taylor great to have both of you with
us tonight, I appreciate your time here on the Ed Show, thank you so much.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter at Ed Show and at WeGotEd, like us
on Facebook, we appreciate that. We always want to know what you think.
And we pay attention to it.

Coming up we`re expected to surpass an in very important economic milestone
tomorrow. That`s right, when the job support comes out. And you know
what? The GOP has done nothing to get us there. Rapid response panel
weighs it on that. But first back on the bus, Nancy Pelosi makes a stop in
Ohio to talk fair pay with Nina Turner. Trenders is next, we`ll be right
back at the Ed Show, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: What`s out there? What`s hot, what`s not? Time for Trenders
social media. Check as out on Twitter at ED Show and @wegotEd. You can
check out my pod cast 24/7, right there for you at wegoted.com. It`s put
up everyday at noon. The ED Show social media nation has decided that we
are reporting. Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh boy, it`s just going to get worst before I get
better.

SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, rapid decline.

ANNETTE BOSWORTH, SOUTH DAKOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: I spend the last 11 month
campaigning for the Republican nomination for the U.S. senate seat for
South Dakota.

SCHULTZ: South Dakota senate candidate Annette Bosworth`s week goes from
bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news from the associated press that reports
that you have lost your race.

BOSWORTH: Well, that`s news to me. I didn`t know that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a bad time?

SCHULTZ: .to worst.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former U.S. senate candidate Annette Bosworth faces 12
felony charges for a perjury and false or forged signatures.

BOSWORTH: There was no criminal intent to deceive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s going to get any worst, don`t it?

SCHULTZ: The number two Trender, strange brew.

GLENN BECK: Let me show you what I figure out in the break room the other
day.

Everybody went to the coffee pot and that everybody had exactly the same
cup of coffee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is simpler coffee, simpler American.

BECK: That government will tell you that this fine, but you know
differently.

SCHULTZ: Glenn Beck uses coffee to rose the government.

BECK: Are we a collective or an individualist society?

This is what is in our break room. You can have this really crappy instant
coffee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe in coffee, coffee for everyone.

BECK: Or you can have one that you love. This is the free market.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of a little good class.

SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, buckeye bus stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A nationwide of bus to a rolled into Columbus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy Pelosi is taking her economic agenda on the
road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy Pelosi heads to Ohio to promote equality for
working women.

NANCY PELOSI: We know what the problem is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women make about 77 cents on the dollar.

PELOSI: We have the legislative solution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for us to wake up congress. It`s time for
us to pass equal pay.

PELOSI: What is missing are the votes. We are not taking no for an
answer.

If women vote, women`s succeed. If women succeed, America succeeds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight is Ohio State Nina Turner, who was a candidate
for the Ohio secretary states position this fall. Senator, good to have
you with us tonight.

NINA TURNER, (D) OHIO: Thanks Ed.

SCHULTZ: And this is as big as it gets for the Democrats to have Nancy
Pelosi coming on to your turf talking about equal pay for women. What kind
of impact do you think this issue and her appearance in the collection of
other congressional members have on your race in Ohio? What kind of impact
does this going to have?

TURNER: Well women certainly were fired up and it was great to have leader
Pelosi in the state of Ohio on the bus with folks like Congresswoman Betty
in Columbus, Congressman Fudge in Cleveland and also Congresswoman Marcy
Kaptur and the other congressional women that travel to the state of Ohio.
Women were on fire yesterday Ed. And the issues that the congresswoman
that leader Pelosi is pushing about when women succeed, America succeed,
you know, women`s issues are that of jobs, of economic opportunity, of
votes, of education, of health care, all of that matters to women.

And you know what Ed? Rosa Parks changed the whole world all of bus. So
it`s so glad to see leader Pelosi and other women standing by her side on
the bus, riding across the Ohio to let women know that they have a choice
in 2014.

SCHULTZ: Now, I also understand that leader Pelosi with the Democrats was
exposed to a bus ride that illustrated just how hard it is to vote for some
people in that state of Ohio which our team of course followed you on that
tour and illustrate it exactly how cumbersome the road block are there and
how hard it is to go through the process in some districts in Ohio to vote
because of the voting lost that have been changed. What kind of reaction
did she have?

TURNER: A tremendous reaction Ed. Women certainly know and the men that
support women that if we want better policies we need better policy makers,
better laws, better law makers. I mean the excitement was there and there
were men right by the sides of women who understand that if women are
oppressed economically then families and communities and that this nation
is oppressed economically that women deserved equal pay for equal work.

I mean if for the average white women 77 cents on every dollar, the average
African-American woman 67 cents, and for our Latino sisters only 55 cents.
That takes away money out of the economy. It takes money from their
tables, out of their homes. It`s just not right Ed and so we have to
standup collectively and say that we won`t take it anymore and that was
leader Pelosi`s message that women have to get out to vote. Women were a
force in 2012 at 53 percent of women were out there voting, voting their
consciousness, voting for Democrats, and we need to get women to do that
again in 2014. They need to turnout and turn it up Ed.

SCHULTZ: State Senator Nina Turner with us tonight here on the ED Show. I
want you to characterize that you`re in right now for the secretary states
job. And then we all know, there`s a history here when it comes to
shenanigans and the vote total counting and all the stuff and the logistics
of elections in the state of Ohio. We know how important Ohio was going to
in 2016 for the presidential. This makes this race of terribly important.
How heated is it as it now? How hot is going to get? How important it is
that as you do it?

TURNER: It`s vitally important. Our vote is our voice and to have a chief
elections officer emplace that really does everything possible to try to
suppressed the vote and to have his Republican colleagues and the
legislator doing his deeds. I mean from the last the last time we talked,
some of those laws have gone into effect. We have one week less of early
voting right now. No more absentee, unsolicited absentee, ballots can be
mailed out the way the they were to counties before the law was pass to
prohibit that from happening.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

TURNER: And they`re making it harder to count votes. So this is about the
voice of people being heard. And that is why I am running for secretary of
state to expand and protect access to the ballot box. The voters of the
great swinging state of Ohio will have a choice. They deserve better than
what they`re getting right now Ed. And the greatest equalizer that we have
is the ballot box and we need people to come out and raise their voices and
vote. They cannot sit on the side lines in this election. There is no
such thing as an off year election, every single election cycle we need
people to be on voting their economic interest.

You know Ed? All of the rights that have been taken away in the great
state of Ohio are happening on the state level, collective bargaining
rights.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

TURNER: Women`s reproductive choice rights, voting rights, all happening
at the state level of government. And so we need people to come out and to
vote. This is vitally important Ed and then we cannot skip 2014 to get the
2016.

TURNER: Vote, vote, vote.

SCHULTZ: No doubt. State Senator Nina Turner, we`ve got the attention of
leader Pelosi, no question about that. It`s going to be very interesting.
How many more times she goes back to Ohio because of the significant of the
Buckeye states? Great to have you with us Nina,.

TURNER: Thank you Ed.

SCHULTZ: . thank you so much. Still ahead, despite the GOP`s best effort,
the Obama economy, hey looking pretty good. Rapid Response Panel weighs
in. Plus the EPA`s plan to reduce coal plant regulations are a huge step
for combating climate change. Congressman Raul Grijalva joins me to
discuss what President Obama`s next move should be?

But next, I`m taken your questions, asking Ed Live just ahead on the ED
Show on MSNBC. We`re right back.

(COMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show, appreciate all the questions in our
Ask Ed Live segment tonight.

Our first question comes from Philip. He wants to know, "If President
Obama found a cure for cancer, do you think Republicans would find that to
be a reason to impeach him?"

No, but they`d find something else. If President Obama did find a cure for
cancer, it would be unbelievable obviously but the distain for this
president from the right wing is so strong they would cast that aside
quickly and they would find a reason. All they need is the political
power. If they hang on to the House and win the Senate, believe me this is
one of the first things they`re going to be talking about. And they won`t
have to be on solid legal ground to do it. They just have to have the
political power to do it. They`ll make something up.

Our next question is from Adam. He wants to know, "What would your perfect
day consist of?"

A healthy family, praise the Lord we`ve had a lot of them.

Stick around, Rapid Response Panel is next. We`ll be right back in the Ed
Show.

SUE HERERA, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Sue Herera with your CNBC Market Wrap.

Stocks rally ahead of the employment report. The Dow raising 98 points to
close at a new record, the S&P gained 12, also hitting a new record high,
the NASDAQ added 44.

It is really all about jobs. Jobless claims rose slightly more than
expected last week. Filings were up 8,000 to 312,000 but they`re still
close to post-recession lows.

And a separate report showed job cuts rose to the highest level in over a
year as employers plan to cut payrolls by nearly 53,000 in May.

And that`s it from CNBC, we`re first in business worldwide. Ed is back
after a quick break.

(COMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Thanks for watching tonight.

Tomorrow, on Friday, the United States Department of Labor will release its
month of May jobs report. Now, you`re going to see a lot of new stories
about job growth failing to keep up with expectations. Economists expected
210,000 jobs instead ADP in Moody`s Analytics released a report showing the
private sector adding, doggone it, 179,000 jobs. However, we are expected
to hit a very important milestone breaking even.

If the United States economy added 113,000 jobs or more in the month of
May, we will have finally recovered all the jobs lost in the Bush financial
crisis, The Great Recession. And we lost 8.7 million jobs over the course
of two years during The Great Recession, that`s 6.3 percent of the pre-
recession peak payroll. Now, more than four years later, we`re finally
expecting to recover them all, making this the longest jobs recovery on
record since the Department of Labor started keeping track back in 1939.

Folks were on track with 51 straight months of private sector job growth.
We still have no doubt a long way to go, there`s a lot of people not
feeling it but this as I see it is no small victory for the Obama
Administration especially when you watch with the GOP and how they`ve been
guided by ideology over economics time after time after time.

The Bush tax cuts, they said we couldn`t let them expire. Well, we did.
We`re still adding jobs. ObamaCare, well that was not the job killer that
the Republicans said it was going to be and the Republicans flat-out had
been wrong on everything with this economy. They`re refusal to partake in
any kind of public or private partnership to make this economy better.
They have sidelined the economy but we are strong enough as a nation to
keep going forward despite them and move forward on a path of prosperity.
Just what would it be like if they got along in Washington and invested it
infrastructure.

Joining me tonight on the Rapid Response Panel, Pulitzer Prize winning
journalist David Cay Johnston with us tonight also author of Divided: The
Perils of Our Growing Inequality, also with us tonight MSNBC Contributor
and Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, great to have both of you
gentleman with us tonight.

David Cay, you first, I mean we`re going to add 113,000 jobs in May. We
are going to now on record get all of these numbers back. What`s your take
on the last five years of what we have been through and where we are right
now? How big is this?

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, TAX SPECIALIST: Well, this is very good news that
we`re going to be back to where we are but we should be a lot further along
and if the Republicans had not refused to put money into fixing up our
infrastructure and other things that would help build the economy, that
would be good for business, we would be well ahead of where we are. We`ve
added 14 million Americans since the low point. So we really need to have
6 or 7 million more jobs to really be where we should be and that`s
certainly not the fault of the president.

SCHULTZ: Governor, how will the Republicans fend (ph) this one? These are
positive numbers, no doubt about it.

FMR GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER, (D) MONTANA: Well, they`re going to complain
that all these companies have taken these jobs some place else around the
world, they`re going to say, "If we just lower the taxes a little bit more,
these corporations would spend more in the United States." But here`s the
problem, from A to Z, we`ll just start with Apple and Caterpillar, I can`t
think of a B right now, but we couldn`t get all the way to Z.

These corporations have bankrolled overseas. They made the money in the
United States. Now they`ve got it in bank accounts overseas and if they
have to bring it back, they`ll have to pay taxes. And so we have a
corporate America that`s sitting on more cash today than any time in
history and they`re not investing to create jobs in this country because
they kept the money sitting in banks overseas.

This is the fault of our Congress during the last 20 years passing
legislation that gives all of these tax bennies to American corporations to
ship the job overseas.

What we need is to get them investing in jobs in the United States and then
we won`t have one and a half and two percent growth, it`ll be three, three
and a quarter, three and a half percent, invest in America, make enough
jobs so we can bring men and women home and we`re no longer fighting oil or
work some place else. Let`s make jobs more at home, building bridges,
building airports, building America

SCHULTZ: Yeah. David Cay, what`s your read on the Dow? Record numbers
today, 16, 836, but a lot of Americans don`t feel it.

JOHNSTON: Well, that rise in stock market today tells you that the traders
think the numbers will come in in the low end probably closer to ADPs
estimate of 180,000 than the 210 or 220 that some others are predicting.

But in the long run, fundamentally, the governor`s quite right. We need to
get at this policy that has allowed companies to suck. I estimate almost 5
trillion dollars out of the U.S. And by the way, what have they invested
in? They buy the debt that the government has to sell because it didn`t
collect those taxes. So they`re both not creating jobs with it and we`re
paying them to delay paying their taxes. That`s an insane policy.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Governor, I want to ask you. In a Time Magazine story
published today, you had this to say about Hillary Clinton which I think
certainly connects to the economy in 2016. You said, "You can`t be the
candidate that shakes down more money on Wall Street than anybody else. I
don`t know, Woodrow Wilson, and be the populist."

Explain that a little bit. Is Hillary not right for the Democrats? Is
that what I`m reading?

SCHWEITZER: Well, unfortunately, we`ve come to a place in politics that
you win elections by raising more money than the other person or the other
parties. And whether they`re Democrats or Republicans, you rush to where
the money is, you go to the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance
companies, the big banks, you go to Wall Street. They`re the ones that can
write the fat cheques.

And here`s the problem, if they`ve been writing you the fat cheques, you`re
beholding to them. And so, you know, what we need is a Democratic Party
that stands up for working people, who says we need to have a strong middle
class again. We can`t have a Democratic Party that is corporate like. And
that`s the risk that we`re faced with right now. We already have a
Congress full of people who have been bought by corporate America. We need
chief executives that will stand up to corporate America and say, "I`m
putting America first, not your profits."

SCHULTZ: David Cay, have the corporations become so strong that they are
going to be able to overrun any candidate and force even the Progressive
candidates to play ball with them and not take that independent straight
can do what`s good for consumers?

JOHNSTON: I think that is a real serious concern, Ed. And, you know, it
takes Citizens United and the other decisions of the Roberts Court and the
things the Chief Justice Roberts is putting in to his decisions because
he`s there (ph) for a long game.

You`re going to see more tax on unions allowed by the Supreme Court, fewer
worker rights, fewer consumer rights, and the pressure will be the push
down wages which is one of the problems we have, you know.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

JOHNSTON: The average wage now is six percent lower than it was in 1973.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. And I think that the Progressive candidate in the field is
going to have to talk about just those things that you gentlemen mentioned
here tonight. Thank you so much. David Cay Johnston, Brian Schweitzer
good to have you on the Ed Show.

Coming up next, Congressman Steve King`s conspiracy theories land him in
Pretenders tonight. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHUTLZ: And in Pretenders tonight, king of shame, Steve King.

The Congressman from Iowa made his best effort at a coherent tweet this
week, that`s right, but lacked the language or the logic. King implied
Susan Rice is working for terrorists and managed to make up some words
along the way.

King wrote, "Susan Rice lied to the American people about Bergdahl taken in
battle. Looks like both sides swapees and negotiators are working for Al
Qaeda."

Here`s the great mind who came up with this accusation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE KING, (R) IOWA: When I get down and sit down on that boarder.
What I do is I came to this conclusion. We can`t shut that off unless we
build a fence and a wall.

For everyone whose a valedictorian, there`s a another 100 out there that
they weigh a 130 pounds and they`ve got calves the size of cantaloupes
because they`re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.

We could also electrify this wire with the kind of current that wouldn`t
kill somebody, but it would simply be a discouragement for them, they`d be
fooling around with it. We do that with livestock all the time.

It`s a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to
watch an animal fight. But it`s not a federal crime to induce somebody to
watch people fighting, there`s something with the priorities of people who
think like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUTLZ: Steve King hasn`t exposed Susan Rice`s real boss. King exposed
another brick in his great wall of ignorance.

If Steve King thinks accusing Susan Rice of treason and makes him the voice
of reason, he can keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHUTLZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks who
take a shower after work.

Well, a new proposed rule could change Americas landscape by swapping out
coal power smokestacks for cleaner energy, isn`t it about time? The Obama
Administration unveiled an ambitious new plan to reduce pollution from coal
power plants. President Obama`s next move should be to reject the proposed
Keystone XL pipeline as I see it.

The EPA says the existing power plants must reduce carbon dioxide emissions
by 30 percent by the year 2030. Now, the move is the equivalent of taking
two-thirds of cars and trunks off the road in the United States. The
proposal covers a thousand power plants across the country and more than
half are fueled by coal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINA MCCARTHY, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: This is about protecting our health and
it is about protecting our homes. This is about protecting local economies
and it`s about protecting jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUTLZ: Conservatives clearly very critical of the plan, they say that
it`s going to cost jobs, they say that about everything.

Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill trying to block
the regulations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: This is the single, worst blow
to Kentucky`s economy in modern times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Existing power plants are the largest source of the nation`s
carbon dioxide emissions accounting for 38 percent.

Now, it seems that coal emissions are more far reaching and more impactful
than the Keystone XL Pipeline would be.

So as I see it, it should be a no-brainer for the president to reject the
Keystone XL Pipeline and there are some security issues that are now coming
up by some experts.

Congressman Raul Grijalva joins me tonight to talk about this.
Congressman, always a pleasure to have you with us.

It would seem to me that if the EPA and the Obama Administration`s going to
go this far on coal, why wouldn`t they just reject the Keystone XL out
right? Does this lead us down that road in your opinion?

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA, (D) ARIZONA: I think the way that you connected it,
Ed, is absolutely correct. These rules -- proposed rules and regulation
are necessary to deal with climate change, to deal with this fossil fuel
dependency that can only creates more pollution and more carbon emissions.
And the rules set us in a direction of beginning to control that, it sends
us in a direction of new and improved jobs that deal with renewables and
alternative energy.

And the pipeline harkens back to the -- to again become independent on
fossil fuels and that extraction as a mean of energy production. I think
it`s a contradiction. One goes with the other. Regardless of the chicken
littles Republicans in Congress that the sky is falling javelin, the
economy will stop on the contrary and now gives us an opportunity to begin
to make the changes necessary in our workforce training education for the
future.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. There`s a recent report out. Security vulnerabilities of
the Keystone XL Pipeline really have not been given a lot of attention.
But Dave Cooper, a former Navy SEAL commander says the Keystone XL would be
extremely vulnerable to a terrorist attack. He recently, you know, put
this together and he said, "At a keystone 1 pump station ." he stood there
for over 15 minutes snapping photos and was not approached, questioned, or
even noticed. What`s your reaction to that?

GRIJALVA: Yeah, we had a briefing from Mr. Cooper, members of Congress and
the follow-up from that briefing and the follow-up from the comments that
he made today and yesterday is quite simply that, you know, let`s look at
the Keystone comprehensive and one of them has to be safety, public safety,
in particular, and the fact that any deliberate sabotage of key portions of
that pipeline will create millions and millions of spill of this sludge
that is worse than an oil spill and contaminate and ruin parts of the
Heartland and aquifers.

So let`s look at it in the comprehensive way. If this individual and this
study by Mr. Cooper`s not enough, then we requested that the inspector
general investigate and look at risk assessment that has been proposed by
TransCanada as is it good, does this new study verify or raise issues that
need to be dealt with, is it part of a comprehensive package? Let`s look
at it that way. This is not about scare tactics. This is about the fact
that, you know, we are proposing to build a pipeline that will change the
very nature of energy in this country and so let`s look at all aspect,
security being an important one, as well. We do it for everything else.

SCHULTZ: And quickly Congressman, do you think that the momentum has
shifted in this story? A poll shows that still the American people want
it, but what`s the polls on Capitol Hill?

GRIJALVA: I think the momentums have shifted. I think, right now, it`s
about avoidance. Nobody wants to deal with the issue. I think the
momentum in the country ...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GRIJALVA: ... around climate change has changed significantly and, you
know, like I said, I think it`s going to change .

SCHULTZ: Sure.

GRIJALVA: . I think the dynamics have changed a lot.

SCHULTZ: OK. Congressman Raul Grijalva, great to have you on the Ed Show
tonight, thank you so much, I appreciate your time.

That`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz.

Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now. Good evening,
Rev.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END

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